Car-door fastener.



WALTER II.` sWANII,

i UNITED STATES PATENT GEFICE.

oE DIXON, ILLINOIS.

GAR-Doon FAsTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 681,150, dated August20, 1901. Application filed February 14, 1601. Serial No. 47,250. (Nomodel.)

T @ZZ whom t may concern: i

Be it known that I, WALTER H. SWANK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Dixon, in the county of Lee, State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Door Fasteners; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such i as will enable othersskilled in the art to which .IQ

it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to fasteners for `freight-car doors; and it hasfor its obj ect to provide a fastening wherein the latch-bolt is held inlocking position by means of a bolt which may be operated at will butthe latchbolt cannot be withdrawn from locking posi- `tion until afterthe seal for the door has been broken, the loeking-bolt acting torelieve the seal of strain incident to jarring when the car is inmotion.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be evident from thefollowing description.

cover-plate in place.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in whichlike numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views,Figure 1 is a front elevation of the fastening with the cover-plateremoved and i l the locking-bolt in engaged position with a seal inplace. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1 with the cover-plate inplace. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1 with the Fig. l is asection on line o: oo of Fig. `1.

i Referring now to the drawings, the present y fastening comprises amember which is mounted on the sliding door of the freight-car andincludes a block 5, the face of which is set i l 3, flush with 4the edgeof the door, and from which face there projects a latch-bolt 6, in-

. y cluding a body portion having a notch 7 to `form a hook, and fromthe web portion of provided for taking from the seal the strain incidentto such motions as Would tendA t0 slide the door open. For this purposea springpressed bolt 16 is provided. This bolt 16 is. slidably disposedon guideways 18 and 19, formed on the opposite faces of plates 20 and21, which are removably placed in the casing 10, below the openings inthe side walls thereof, the sliding bolt havingits upper end round-l ed,as shown at 22, for engagement by the bill of the hook ofthe latch-boltwhen the latter is moved into locking position, whereby the saidlatch-bolt may act to press the spring-pressed bolt downwardly topermitthe bill of the hook to pass beyond it. When the bill of the hook haspassed beyond the bolt 16, the latter rises under the influence of ahelical spring 24, disposed between its lower end and the bottom of thecasing, so as to engage itself with the hook and prevent withdrawalthereof.

The spring-pressed bolt 16 is covered by a plate 25, which forms a frontfor the casing, and in which plate there is formed a slot 26, throughwhich is passed the stem of a knob 27 this stem being secured to thespringpressed bolt, and when the knob is moved downwardly this bolt isdrawn from engagement With the hook, and the latch-bolt 6 may then bewithdrawn from the casing by sliding the car-door in the properdirection to open it. Thus when the door is closed, the spring-pressedbolt engages the latch-bolt 6 and holds it closed whether or not theseal is in place, while when the seal is in place it is relieved fromall strain.

To prevent insertion of any obstruction into the casing beneath the sprin g-pressed bolt that would prevent lowering of it out of engagementwith the latch-bolt, a closing-plate 30 is provided, this plate beingpivoted on the stem of the knob 27 and having a cam-face that restsagainst the bottom of the casing 10. When ICQ the knob is drawndownwardly, thiscamrface is pressed againstthe bottom :of ,the casingand sliding thereover causes the plate to swing laterally and allow thespring-pressed bolt to be moved downwardly. When this bolt rises, theclosing-plate is acted on by gravity and swings into its verticalposition,l the dimensions of this closing-plate, however, being suchthat it closes the slot in all p ,osiv tions.

It will he seen that with this construction there iS Lprovided a most.simple ande.ftieient construction for the purposes defined, and it willbe understood that in practice various modifications of the specificconstruction shown maybe made and thatany suitable materials andproportionsmaybeused-withlOutdeparti-ng from the spirit oftheinve-ntion.

IVilhat' isv claimed is l. .A car-doop lock compri-sing a casing having\ transverse openingsy therethrough'and a' slotted projection i formedthereupona latchbolt .-adaptedgto pass through @the f openingsandqhaving a slot-for alineinent-withlthe slot i of thefexterio-rportion -to receivefa seal in conjunction therewith, said `latch-bolt"ha-vingalsoanotehed portion to 'liewwitlrin thecasing,a.,spring-pressedrboltlin thecasing-for engagement -with1thenotched-portion'. to pre-l ventw'ithdrawalof the ylatch-fbolt,-aslotted! cover-plate fort-he casing,;a knob Yhaving la 5 steun 4passedthrough-the slot o fgthepla-teandf secu red dto theLspring-pressed bolttoy-mevevit i against the tendency of ythe -sprinrgfand ya;l

aindhaving a slot for alinement with the slot `0f ,the exterior portionto receive a seal in conjunction therewith, said latch-bolt having alsoa notched portion to lie within the casl ing, guideways`removablymounted within 'the casing, a spring-pressed lbolt in thecasin-g forengageinent i\'i th-thefnotched portion `to preventwithdrawalof the latch-bolt, a spring interposed between the bolt Vand thebottom'ofvthecasing, a slotted cover-plate for I.thecasingn a knobzhaving a stem passed through-the slot of the plate and secu-red to thespring-pressed bolt tomove it'against the 'tendency ofthe spring, and aclosing-plate -pivoted'tothe stein o fthe knob.

`Intestinrmny-whereot I-hereunto sign my nalneyinthe presence'of `twosubscribing witnesses, onthis 11th dayof December, y1900.

`WALTER H. -SWANIQ

